"You know, I don't think I do," Mary said.
The man laughed. "My fine little friend, that isn't the way I do things. Now, I suggest you start talking or your little blue friend there is going to get hurt."
Eric held Mary tight. Mary looked at Eric and then at the man.
"If you hurt her then so help me God, I'll rip your fucking throat out," Mary said.
The two teens laughed. Mary glared at them, which shut them up. Two feet tall or not, Mary could still intimidate people.
"How do you intend to accomplish that when you're dead?" the man asked.
He reached into his jacket to pull out what Eric presumed was a gun. Eric reacted with instinct, ran at the man and bit his ankle with Eric's razor sharp teeth. Teeth tore through flesh as though it were nothing. The man yelled out in pain and dropped his gun. Unfortunately for him, his gun discharged as it hit the ground. The bullet traveled the short distance between the man's gun and between his eyes in the blink of an eye.
The man was dead before he hit the ground.
"Holy shit," Eric screamed. "I killed him! Oh my God, what have I done?"
Eric started crying. Mary was at Eric's side in a flash and holding him. "It's all right; it was self defense and an accident."
“What a wuss! You’re actually crying?” the first teen said.
Mary glared at the teen. “How’d you like to make it two for one?”
The teen backed off. His friend tugged at his shirt. “Man, we gotta get outta here before the cops show up.”
Both teens ran off before Mary could do anything else.
“Come on Eric, we need to get out of here too,” Mary said.
“But what about him and the vials,” Eric asked.
Mary grabbed Eric’s hand. “Forget him. We need to get out of here!”
Eric looked at the man and then back at Mary. “You said it was self defense. Maybe they’ll understand if we explain.”
“They’ll understand all right. Understand that they need to call animal control,” Mary said. “I don’t know about you but I don’t want to end up in a cage.”
“Maybe we can change ourselves back,” Eric said.
“Do you want to change back into a human here? We don’t have our clothes. I'd rather not be naked as a human in the park when others could see me."
"But, we're already naked!" Eric said.
"Yes but as ottsels. That doesn't seem so bad," Mary said. "At least people won't question it at first."
Eric looked at Mary and then down at his body.
"Yeah, I guess."
"Now, come on, we have to go! We’re going to need to leave my purse; it’ll just slow us down.”
Eric looked down at his body. “We can’t just leave your purse behind! We’ll be stuck like this forever!”
Mary grabbed Eric’s arms. “Eric, being female isn’t so bad. You’ll get used to it. Besides, you seemed to be enjoying it so far.”
Eric heard sounds of commotion around them. People knew that not only had the incident with the unnamed man had taken place but that there were two talking animals nearby. Eric knew the police would be here soon.
“But if we leave your purse, they’ll be able to track you down! The cops might come after us!” Eric said. “I don’t wana go to jail!”
Mary laughed. “Eric, it was self defense and he threatened both of us. Come on, we need to at least hide."
Eric looked back and forth. Despite Mary being responsible for Eric being in his current form, Eric trusted her to get them out of this situation.
"Look Eric, it's my fault you're like this. I am responsible for keeping you safe. Don't ask me how but I know that we need to get out of here and now," Mary said.
Eric nodded.
"Hmmm, you know, now that we’re only two feet tall, we can hide in these bushes,” Mary said.
She grabbed Eric’s hand and led him into a nearby bush that Mary hoped would provide adequate cover. The leaves tickled against Eric’s fur, reminding him of his lack of clothing. Fear over their situation and arousal over his nudity coupled with proximity to an equally nude Mary fought an interesting battle in Eric's head.
Mary seemed to be enjoying this. Even though Eric knew no one would recognize him in this form (or gender!) he still felt exposed. Having Mary by his side however made Eric feel more secure.
Eric knew he was being more submissive. Mary however was always a strong female. Eric figured she’d make an excellent mother or wife.
They watched the bench as other people walked up to it and found the body of the unnamed man. The sight of the body made Eric feel ill. Mary’s hands on Eric’s shoulder calmed him somewhat.
“Remember, it was an accident and self defense,” Mary said.
“I know, but I still feel ill,” Eric said.
Two police officers showed up a few minutes later and started to escort people out of the park.
“Come on, we’d better get out of here,” Mary said.
“But, what about your purse and the vials,” Eric asked.
Mary sighed. “We’ll have to come back for them or something. Look Eric, I’d rather be stuck like this then end up in a lab. I doubt they’ll observe human rights for a couple of ottsels.”
Eric hung his head. “You’re probably right but how do I explain this to my friends or family?”
“We’ll find a way, come on!” Mary said.
Mary led Eric through the bushes and out the other side. The sound of Police sirens filled Eric’s ears. It made the reality of their situation seem all the more urgent.
With Mary leading the way, Eric ran through the rest of the park. Distances that once seemed small felt far larger. The world also felt a lot more dangerous given Eric’s reduced stature.
Once out of the park, they came to a sidewalk as a police car sped down the road.
“Now what do we do?” Eric asked.
“We’ll go to my house. At least there we can relax and think about what to do next,” Mary said. “Besides, we’ll have a lot more privacy. It might have been easier if I did become male, but I know you’re still Eric on the inside.”
Eric swallowed hard.
“Think of it as incentive to get home. Believe me Eric, I can show you things that’ll make you wish you’d been born a girl,” Mary said.
“A girl ottsel,” Eric asked.
“We’ll maybe not that but we can adapt,” Mary said with a smile as she brushed a finger across Eric’s chin.
Mary’s house was a good hour walk away for a human. Eric knew it would take far longer for an ottsel. The thought of sanctuary however was enough to make Eric know it was worth it.
“Come on, we have a good hike ahead of us,” Mary said.